L.A. GAMES : University High Basketball Team Has the Desired ‘Interaction Among People’

The essence of the L.A. Games was on the court Saturday afternoon in the stuffy little gym at Mira Costa High School, alive and well in the form of the basketball team from University High in West Los Angeles.

To say the team is sort of short is to say Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is sort of bald. University’s “big man” is 6 feet 3 inches tall, and only one other player is taller than 6 feet.

The Warriors are short in numbers, as well. For the first three rounds of the L.A. Games tournament, the Warriors’ sixth man was their last man. Saturday, they suited up only eight players.

But even more noteable is the team’s ethnic diversity. The Warriors’ squad is made up of three blacks, two whites, one Chicano, one player of Korean ancestry and another of Iranian ancestry. Their coach is a Japanese-American.

University made a stunning run through the tournament, which concludes today, winning four games before losing to defending champion Cleveland, 74-37, in the quarterfinals Saturday.

“This is a perfect example of the ethnic diversity we’re trying to achieve,” L.A. Games Chairman Todd Smith said of the University team. “The racial mix is there. That’s the L.A. Games.”

The L.A. Games, formerly called the Watts Summer Games, is an annual event held by the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce featuring about 400 high schools competing in 13 sports. Now in its 21st year, the event was created in response to the 1965 Watts riots. It was an effort to bring together young people from different backgrounds.

With the theme “Interaction Among People,” the L.A. Games has widened its focus over the years to include athletes from all ethnic backgrounds and to address current events in the community, according to Smith.

The athletes participating in the L.A. Games were yet to be born when the rioting occurred in Watts, and many may have trouble relating to the racial turmoil that plagued the area in the ‘60s. But now there is another wave of trouble cresting in the communities: Gangs. And the L.A. Games is beginning to address the problem.

“There’s almost as much turmoil in their age group now as their was in the ‘60s,” said James Lofton, Raider wide receiver and one of the honorary commissioners of the L.A. Games. “Every kid coming out here to compete is in a sense saying ‘no’ to gangs. Kids out here are involved in sports, and that’s going to take them away from the gangs.” Another sports celebrity on hand, former Ram Rosey Grier, said: “This is an example of something that can be done to channel kids who would be going into gangs into another direction. . . . Some of the gang kids tell me that in their community there’s absolutely nothing to do. The recreational facilities are being closed down. A lot of facilities aren’t there anymore. So they end up standing on street corners.”

The name of the competition was changed to the L.A. Games three years ago in an effort to broaden the Games’ message, according to Smith. Some argue that the name should have remained the Watts Summer Games to keep the heritage alive.

One person in favor of keeping Watts in the name is Raider defensive back Mike Haynes, a former track participant in the Watts Games and another honorary commissioner.

“It’s not even the same thing,” Haynes said. “I think (the name change) is unfortunate. I’m sure the kids today have no idea how serious the Watts riots were.”

In an effort to keep the Watts memories from fading, the athletes at the L.A. Games are brought together before each event and told the history of the Games and why the competition was created.

The L.A. Games concludes its four days of competition today with most final events taking place at El Camino College in Torrance.